Beat Your Heart Out
by butimbroken
Summary: Buffy/Angel. AU. Short story about Buffy helping Angel with his Valentine's Day plans. COMPLETE.


For two weeks Buffy had been lending a hand to Cordelia's older brother, Angel, as he planned out a cute Valentine's surprise. He'd mentioned it in passing one day while the gang was all hanging out and her mouth had moved before her brain could stop it. It wasn't exactly hidden knowledge she'd had a crush on the oldest Chase child but he thankfully acted oblivious.

Buffy offered to help before she knew it and the next two weeks she'd poured over making everything perfect. Not having a boyfriend or any plans of her own had a hand in that but she was sure she'd be a sap anyway and would've offered her time up anyway.

With one eye opened, Buffy groaned Valentine's morning as she reached for her phone. Heart stomach did a little flip-flop at the notification alert from Angel and she sat up better in bed to read it. He told her he had already done his part of writing out the note cards for the scavenger hunt so she should have an easier time finding where to put the items and asking her to keep him updated. She'd secretly hoped they'd do all this together today but she knew that was the first step to some ridiculous thoughts. She was there to help with wooing some new girlfriend, not to just have fun spending time with him... yet she felt bummed as she got herself out of bed and prepared for the day ahead.

With her bags full of items off of Angel's wish list and her notebook full of ideas, directions, lists and everything else under the sun Buffy set out to get things rolling.

Buffy's say started out at the local movie theater. "Where we first met" had been one of the brief notes she had from Angel. She, too, had met Angel in the halls of this building several years back. She was the new girl in town and had been relieved when Cordelia Chase had been bailed on by two of her more popular friends and asked her to come to a movie with her on a whim. She'd been happy to go and while they waited for the doors to open for their flick, Angel and his girlfriend at the time, Darla, had come by on their way out from a date. She'd been smitten pretty much since then, God help her.

Angel had seemingly dated everyone in the state of California besides those underage, related to him, and had the name Buffy Summers and that was forever a hard pill to swallow.

Buffy laughed at one of the note cards leading to some red hots "Because you're smokin' hot." She rolled her eyes at the cheesiness.

Continuing on her way, Buffy found herself walking down memory lane with the majority of the clues she was helping to leave. "Sunnydale is too damn small," she thought, groaning how everything and everywhere reminded her of him.

Then, the more time went on the moor everything just seemed eerie. Buffy was reminded too often of times she'd been with Angel at various places and it started to seem way too coincidental with some of the clues left on the heart cards, she was getting hints about this mystery girlfriend along the way and it seemed they had some strong similarities, and later she noticed a lot of similar likes as well.

Nearing the end of her mission, Buffy followed the random ass notes he'd given her. Instead of simply giving directions of where she was supposed to leave the next item for the hunt he'd told her a list of streets and ways to turn. Buffy felt like she was lost even in a small town like Sunnydale after nearly twenty minutes of zig-zagging all over the place.

She gave it another twenty then her heart started racing uncontrollably as she started down her own street. She remembered what the last heart card he'd left had said and her eyes searched until she spotted him and her throat made a whole new sound when she did. Angel was dressed up in a suit and tie with a bouquet of flowers in his hands... standing on her door step.

Buffy glanced at her notebook again that laid open in the passenger side seat. "Then she will arrive and I will have the final heart on me to give to her."

Buffy briefly wondered if she wasn't just dreaming. Or she had made a mistake. Or this wasn't actually her house and it just looked like it and the world had just gone mad.

Getting out of the car, Buffy barely noticed the light rain falling down. Her eyes were shyly locked with Angel and she knew she had to be a lovely shade of red right about now. "What is happening?" she barely managed to get out as she got closer.

Angel only smiled, he held out the heavy red heart shaped paper and her hands shook as she reached for it. She red the note then another three times before looking at him. "This... this was all for me?" she asked, feeling almost faint.

"Surprise," he said softly.

**The End.**


End file.
